Many local tech and tech-enabled companies are serious competitors in the ongoing quest to attract top talent from around the world as well as from the world-renowned universities right here in Indiana. And it’s not only the giant, publicly-traded companies you already know of that are winning battles for the best tech-skilled workers. Some of these firms, while lesser known, are innovating and disrupting industries as they rack up awards for growing fast and being great places to work.

One such firm, enVista, might just be the coolest tech company you’ve never heard of before. Their clients include well-known brands like Best Buy, GNC, Urban Outfitters, Yankee Candle, Vera Bradley, Tractor Supply, Groupon, and Pepsico, and whether you buy in-store or online, enVista likely has had a hand in getting items delivered and into your hands.

Privately held enVista is headquartered in Indianapolis with additional operations in the United Kingdom, India and Singapore. Founded by CEO Jim Barnes and senior managing partner John Stitz in 2002, enVista has grown into a leading, global software solutions and consulting firm with over 1,000 customers, 600 employees and annual revenue north of $100 million. The company has racked up eight consecutive years on the Inc. 5000 “Fastest Growing Companies” list, which it has notably achieved without any outside investment. The firm has also received numerous “Best Places to Work” honors.

The term ‘supply chain’ is a bit deceiving when attempting to classify enVista. The company helps world-leading brands optimize their supply chains, transportation, retail, and IT and ERP operations to reduce costs and drive profitability by unifying commerce.

“When everyone rows in the same direction …” The enVista values wall.

“It’s easier to grasp what enVista does if you look at it from the point of view of our customers,” said Chad Andrews, senior solutions architect. “Companies buy materials to make and sell products, and if you think about how everything moves from point A to storage area B all the way through manufacturing and warehousing to the transaction and shipping ending up at a consumer’s door, that’s all within our purview.” enVista’s solutions help companies to optimize the labor, processes and technology required across manufacturing, distribution, warehousing, transportation, and fulfillment of goods.

enVista is a singular strategic partner for its customers, and the employees take ownership of solving problems, explained Michael Falls, director of client services. “Honestly, it’s all about having a solid work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit,” Michael said. “If you’re going to succeed at enVista, you’ve got to have a certain level of passion about the problems our customers are facing and a desire to create solutions that overcome those problems.”

The enVista anniversary wall displaying photos of employees who have celebrated three, five, seven and 10-year anniversaries with the company.

enVista currently has more than 40 open positions throughout its seven divisions, including software development, consulting, sales, marketing and more. The company’s software solutions include the retail industry’s first cloud-native Unified Commerce Platform built from the ground up as microservices, its proprietary leading global freight audit and payment solution, intellectual property the firm has built for Microsoft solutions, and the company is a major enterprise shop working with Microsoft and SAP solutions.

On a recent visit to the company’s headquarters, I spoke with five people, two of whom have been there five years, three have been there 10+ years, and three have spent their entire careers starting as interns at enVista. Lindsay Karlowsky, senior EDI operations manager and a 10-year enVista employee, said the most rewarding part of her job has been working on the firm’s Unified Commerce Platform and seeing it progress over the past five years into the powerhouse offering that it is today.

Inc. 5000 posters highlight enVista’s seven consecutive years making the list of “America’s Fastest Growing Companies.”

As managing partner, technology services David Eckel described it, enVista has so much growth and opportunity that employees don’t have to leave to advance their careers, do something different or follow their passions. For example, Michael Falls advanced through three different roles over five years before being promoted to director of client services. And Jacquelyn Gary, who is in her sixth year with enVista, started out as an intern and joined the transportation team, before taking more of an interest in a client-facing role. She’s now in a solution lead role in consulting.

“Working at a company with a single service can be limiting after a couple of years,” David said. “Technology is at the core of everything we do at enVista across every business unit, so if you have the technical aptitude and good communication skills you can pretty much pursue anything that interests you, and that’s a lot of options. No matter what role you start in — unless you just really love that specific job — it’s probably not where you’ll end up.”

It’s one of the reasons David likes to say “we’re the best kept secret in technology here in Indy” because people don’t yet know the enVista name like they do other tech companies. However, following the past decade of remarkable growth and expansion into every single step of the supply chain, the opportunities to disrupt and make a mark on multiple industries through technology should be very appealing to tech-skilled talent.